A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit that contested Bola Tinubu’s status as the All Progressives Congress’ presidential candidate.
A few days after the former Lagos State Governor won the APC presidential primary, Ngozika Ihuoma, a rights activist and APC loyalist, brought Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party’s nominee, Atiku Abubakar, to court on June 9 for allegedly breaking existing electoral rules.
The two presidential candidates, along with their parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, were sued in the case with the filing number FHC/ ABJ/CS/854/2022.
Ihuoma asked for six reliefs, one of which was that Tinubu not be allowed to run for president in 2023 by INEC.
In defense of the suit, the law office of Babatunde Ogala (SAN) & Co on behalf of the APC filed a counter affidavit in opposition to the originating summons and a notice of preliminary objection.
The case was however dismissed by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
Justice Fadima Muritala described the plaintiff as a “meddlesome interloper having no locus standi to institute the suit.”
He said, “The counter affidavit also punctured Ihuoma’s case as academic, theoretical and an abuse of court process. The court on Monday upheld the defense counsel’s objections and struck out the case.
“In the last couple of weeks, the courts have dismissed several cases brought against Asiwaju Tinubu by opposition elements, including Action Alliance, for being frivolous, lacking in merit and abuse of court processes.”